Thousands of evacuees, including homeless, still in shelters

There are 1,300 people in the George R. Brown Convention Center and 2,058 at NRG Center. However, there's also a number you don't see, the number of homeless who are blending in with flood evacuees.

Author:
Grace White

Published:
10:30 PM CDT September 11, 2017

Updated:
10:30 PM CDT September 11, 2017

Thousands of people are still in shelters across Houston.

There are 1,300 people in the George R. Brown Convention Center and 2,058 at NRG Center. However, there's also a number you don't see, the number of homeless who are blending in with flood evacuees.

As of today, Baker Ripley, the non-profit running the shelter operations at NRG Center announced they will not be accepting new guests. They're trying to transition these shelters, but they're running into a challenge. Not only do they have flood evacuees to help, they also have the homeless.

For every face inside the shelter there's a different story.

"A lot of people lost everything they had and they're just angry," said Kristy Bell, who is staying at the NRG Center shelter.

The majority are flood victims, but some are just people who show up looking for help.

"All I'm wanting to do is go home, I don't want to be in a shelter," said Candace Levee, who was leaving the shelter.

Some choose to leave, but Bell chose to stay and she's not a flood victim.

"I ended up here because I had my personal Harvey," said Bell.

She told us she lost her job and the roof over her head before the storm blew through.

"It can be chaotic in there," she said.

The NRG Center is home for the single mom of three at least for now.

"We've got a team of case managers, who are working with people everyday to try and figure out what their options are in terms of housing, employment if they need it," said Ann Hilbig, Vice President of Program Planning and Evaluation.

That's the challenge, as the weeks go on. Giving everyone who ended up under this roof a way out, no matter how they came in.

"I think they're helping people that really need the help with the flood, but people like myself they're being left hung out," said Bell.

We're told the shelter at GRB will be closing in the near future. NRG Center will follow, but officials say it could stay open at the most two to three more weeks. One reason being they're receiving 400 evacuees back from Dallas on Tuesday.